Cold Forming Die (Cold Heading Dies) Tungsten Carbide Cold Forming Dies Cold forming, or cold heading, starts with a cold metal slug placed into a die that is hit with a heavy strike to shape it into its desired form. The force from the strike causes the metal to flow into the desired shape inside the carbide die by exceeding the metal’s yield strength. Modern cold forming is commonly used for rapidly forming metal parts such as screws, bolts and many other fasteners.

Carbide Drawing Die

Carbide Drawing Dies (Draw Dies) Drawing dies are typically used to shape wire, rod, bar, and tube. Commonly drawn materials include steel, aluminum, and copper. Tungsten carbide has a high compressive strength allowing it to handle extreme pressure; this makes the material ideal for use in drawing dies. Most major manufacturers use carbide dies in the drawing process. Drawn materials include mild steel, stainless steel and high carbon steel as well as other steel alloys. Softer materials, like aluminum and copper alloys, are frequently drawn as well.

The wire drawing process involves drawing wire through a die to reduce the diameter of the wire to the desired size and tolerance, while the volume remains the same. Wires are sized by drawing them through a series of drawing dies, with each die having slightly smaller bore diameter than the one preceding it to gradually reduce the width of the wire. The final die in the series forms the wire to its target size. Tube, or pipe, drawing dies are commonly round, hex or square, but can be made into any shape desired by the manufacturer. The process of drawing tubing is similar to the wire drawing process; however, a mandrel is used to form the inner dimensions of the tubing. The mandrel is inside the tube, or pipe, and situated inside the die. As the tube is drawn through the die it is being shaped on the inside by the mandrel, which establishes the wall thickness and inner diameter. A properly formed mandrel will provide for a smooth surface on the inside of the tube or pipe. Bars and rods are drawn in a similar fashion to wire; only they tend to be much thicker. A wide variety of metals are used in this application, including many steel and copper alloys. A cut-off knife is used to size the rods and bars to length.

Extrusion Die

Extrusion Dies Extrusion dies are typically used in a process where a slug is pushed through the die, forming the desired cross sectional area. A mandrel is used in the process if the application is for tubing, or pipes. Extrusion can be performed on a wide variety of materials and at various temperatures to obtain the desired properties of the extruded product. Materials that can be formed with extrusion dies include steel, copper, aluminum, tin, lead, nickel and even plastic. Products formed through extrusion operations include pipe, wire, rods, bars, tubes, and welding electrodes.

Carbide Shaving Dies Shaving dies are typically used to remove surface defects that are produced during the drawing process. The shaving process can be used on steel alloys, aluminum alloys, and copper alloys. Carbide Swaging Dies Swaging dies are generally used in a manufacturing process called rotary swaging. The rotary swaging process is usually a cold working process, used to reduce the diameter, add a taper, or make a point to a round work piece. It can also provide internal shapes in hollow work pieces with the help of a mandrel.

Tool and die makers are machinists in manufacturing industries who make jigs, fixtures, dies, molds, machine tools, cutting tools, gauges, and other tools used in manufacturing processes. A machinist may be called by various names depending on which area of concentration a particular person works in, such as tool maker or die maker.

Tool and die makers work primarily in tool room environments but more often are in a workshop environment. They are skilled artisans who typically learn their trade through a combination of school and hands-on instruction, with a long period of on-the-job training. Science and art are mixed into their work as well as some engineering concepts. Mechanical engineers and tool and die makers often work closely to design parts and make sure all facets of the job can be completed properly. Both careers involve some level of talent in both creativity and math-and-science. Being a job-shop machinist can combine aspects of toolmaker and production machinist. Some will work solely as machine operators, while others may switch fluidly between tool room tasks and production tasks.

Working from engineering drawings, toolmakers begin by cutting out the design on the raw material, then cut/grind the material to the specified size and shape using manually controlled machine tools (lathes, mills, ID and OD grinding machines, and jig grinders), power tools (die grinders and rotary tools), and hand tools (diamond files, diamond powders and honing stones). Materials used in tool and dies range from steel to tungsten carbide.

Tool and die makers have increasingly had to add computer skills to their daily work, since the addition of computing in the manufacturing fields (CNC, CAD, CAM, and other computer-aided technologies). Today’s tool and die makers are often required to have mastered all of the traditional skills plus substantial digital skills. The combination of hands on skilled labor and digital knowledge make tool and die production a formidable task to master, and one that pays well if mastered!

Tool making
Tool making basically means making tooling used to produce products, or making parts that make parts. Frequently made tools include metal forming rolls, lathe bits, cutters, and fixtures. Due to the unique nature of a toolmaker’s work, it is often necessary to fabricate custom tools or modify standard tools.

Die making
Die making is a sub sect of tool making that focuses mostly on making and maintaining dies. This often includes making punches, dies, draw dies, extrusion dies and carbide dies. Precision is the key to die making. When making dies there will be extremely close tolerances that the machinist must keep the parts within, as dies are usually precise manufacturing tools. Punches and dies must maintain proper clearance to produce parts accurately, and it is often necessary to have die sets machined with tolerances of less than one thousandth of an inch!

Overlap
A veteran machinist may be called upon to perform all of the above jobs, and the skills and concepts involved often overlap, which is why “tool and die making” is commonly viewed as a single field.

Training
Many tool and die makers begin an apprenticeship with an employer, sometimes including a mix of classroom training and hands-on experience. Prior knowledge of mathematics, science, engineering or design and technology can be valuable to any new machinist. A lot of tool and die makers work a 4-5 year apprenticeship program to achieve the status of a journeyman tool and die maker. Today’s employment opportunities often differ in name and detail from the traditional arrangement of an apprenticeship. The terms “apprentice” and “journeyman” are not always used, but the idea of a period of years of on-the-job training to master the field still applies for new machinists.

In the United States, tool and die makers who graduate from NTMA (National Tooling and Machining Association) take 4 years of college courses as well as work 10,000 hours in order to complete their apprenticeship. They are also accredited through the U.S. Department of Labor.

Jig/fixture maker
A jig and fixture maker is a type of tool and die maker/toolmaker. The difference between jigs and fixtures is that a jig is what mounts onto a work piece, and a fixture has the work piece placed on it, into it, or next to it. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably.

An engineer often advises them. Knowledge of various materials is necessary beyond standard wood and metal, such as plastics. Jig/fixture makers also can create, design and build fixtures without engineering plans/blueprints.

Jig/fixture makers gain hands on practical experience while monitoring and making alterations as the engineer improves the manufacturing process. They also can be required to make these adjustments without the help of an engineer, depending on the size and resources of the company. Some Jigs and fixtures require electronic and pneumatic actuation, which will involve knowledge/training in these fields as well.

Properly built jigs and fixtures reduce waste by insuring perfectly fitting parts, reducing adjustments needed to fix the problem. Jigs and fixtures can be as big as a car or be held in hand. Production needs dictate form and function. Jigs, fixtures and gages are necessary to maintain quality standards for repeated low and high volume production demands.

The continued advancement of computerized design and control technologies, such as CAD/CAM, CNC, PLC, and others, has reduced the use of jigs in manufacturing. However, all the computer run machines need some sort of clamping fixture to hold parts for production runs. For example, a drill jig is not needed to guide drill bits to the hole centers if a CNC is used, since it is Computer Numerically Controlled. However, fixtures are still needed to hold the parts in place for the operation needed. Jigs are currently needed in many areas of manufacturing but mainly for low-volume production.